Dealing with a Dominant Student

In my workshops, I'm often asked questions about classroom management.  One recent question:  "I have a student who always wants to answer.  His hand goes up first every time I ask a question, and it's becoming hard to ignore him, especially when the other students want to let him take over.  It's leading to passive learning behaviors from my other students.  What should I do?"

In that case, I would move away from typical whole group, call on one person instruction.  Too often, one student does dominate.  Instead, when you ask questions, immediately have students take a moment to think about an answer, then turn and talk to a partner.  Then, as you move around and monitor students, choose those who you would like to respond to the whole group.  This way, all students have the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding, and it encourages active learning.